UH Hilo sociology professor to speak at North Hawaii Education and Research Center

HILO- Dr. Alton Okinaka, associate professor of sociology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, will speak at the University‘s North Hawaiʻi Education and Research Center (NHERC) in Honokaʻa on Monday, November 12 at 7:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Okinaka‘s talk will explore the role of culture and ethnicity in self-identification, a process often influenced by the situation we are in and who we are talking to. He asserts that we use symbolic ethnic identities which lack a substantive cultural underpinning more often than we will admit.

Okinaka has studied self-identity issues through research conducted with his students at UH Hilo. He will share the results of that research and provide insights into how living in Hawaiʻi affects self-identity.

Okinaka is the third speaker this fall in a monthly series sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program at NHERC. For more information, contact Bill Kunstman at (808) 775-8890 or email wkunstma@hawaii.edu.